Proud American, Proud Taxpayer
Matt Stoller at MYDDÂ put up a post about being proud to pay his taxes and wingnuts went bonkers…
First actually a bunch of us chimed in with similar feelings of pride, though someone sent the post around wingnuttia, and like moths they came. I enjoyed the John Bircher ‘it’s a republic not a democracy’ people, the ‘nonpartisan’ tax professor lecturing us for our ignorance, the sneering individuals telling me I’m an idiot because I’m not rich, and the various commenters that angrily told me taxes aren’t a moral issue.
Rarely does a post set off the wingnuts like that one did, with attacks from Powerline and Hugh Hewitt. It’s fascinating. It’s axiomatic among right-wingers that the market always represents a certain form of truth, and that money paid for a good or service equals the value of that good or service. When you point out that a hatred of taxes, which is hatred of money paid for the upkeep of America, thus equates to a hatred of America, they can’t deal with it. They start pleading for us to be less judgmental towards them or something PC like that.
Anyway, I thought it was noteworthy. If you are near a right-winger today, be careful not to mention your pride in paying for your country or a loathing of tax cheats (who are aided by the business coaltions that support the wingnut welfare these folks live on). They get very itchy and irritable.
The key here is that taxes are indeed necessary and that onerous taxes are not. The whole thing turns on whether or not you think taxes are onerous or not.
I know of no conservative anywhere who argues that we don’t need taxes of some form.
You never heard of The Club for Growth?
http://www.clubforgrowth.org/about.php
Yeah, I have. And nowhere on their site do they advocate abolition of taxes! The closest they come is this:
Replacing the current tax code
“Replace” does not equate to “abolition.” They could mean, of course, doing away with the income tax and going to either a flat tax or national sales tax. Duff’s right — no conservative with their head on straight doesn’t want NO taxes. Just less and/or perhaps a new system.